It’s time to stop protecting your comfort and screw up your life

November 23, 2014

3 minute read

I’m writing this post on my couch with my feet propped up on the table in front of me. It’s cold outside but I’m comfortable because we were able to pay the gas bill. My dog is across the room taking a nap. There’s a Dr. Pepper next to me and music playing around me.

My wife and I don’t have everything we want, but we definitely have everything we need. We haven’t gone on lavish vacations but we get to go home to see family this week. An unexpected payment to fix my car hit us last week but it’s not going to cripple us.

By every definition I’m comfortable.

As I read the Bible, I see dudes who were also comfortable. They had their normal life they’d spent years crafting and learning to love. They woke up, did their routine, hung out with the people they cared about, and went to bed. It may have been mundane, but at least it was comfortable.

All these guys have one thing in common: at some point, they all put everything on the line to go after what God was calling them to. They knew they might be screwing up their life but they believed in something bigger than themselves and went for it. They pushed past knowing people would make fun of them. They knew people wouldn’t understand what they were doing. They risked everything to go after the potential of something.

When God told an old man to build an ark because it was going to rain, no one had heard of rain.

When he told a shepherd boy to fight a giant, no one thought he could win.

When he told a fisherman to quit his job to follow him, no one knew why.

None of these guys knew the entire story or how things would play out. They didn’t know if the rain would come, the giant would kill them, or the job would work out. The only thing they knew was their creator was inviting them on an adventure.

At some point, each one of these guys had a crisis moment:

Do I stay with what I know or do I do something new?

Do I stay safe or do I go all in and take a chance?

Do I stay with what’s comfortable or do I risk screwing my life up for the possibility of more?

Failure was always a possibility. Noah could’ve built the ark and it not rain. David could’ve been slaughtered by the giant. Peter could’ve left his job to be taught by a psychopath. None of them knew the outcome when they took the first step.

The only thing they knew is what I’m learning: we don’t grow in our comfort zones. We grow when we are restless, scared, and uncomfortable. At some point we have to decide if our potential future is worth screwing up our current comfort.

Failure is horrible.

It’s embarrassing, awkward, and painful.

As painful as failure is, it’s only exceeded by one thing: the joy of Jesus whispering, “Great job. I knew you could do it.”

Would you rather give it a shot, fail, and experience God’s grace and restoration? Or would you rather spend your entire life wondering if there was a greater adventure out there?

What’s God calling to you that makes you nervous just thinking about?

How is he using situations in your life to get you ready for what may be next?

What small thing is growing inside you waiting to come out?

There’s a reason God tells us not to fear so many times: fear paralyzes us. Fear keeps us from the adventure. Fear tells us we’ll screw up our life.

Jesus also tells us to screw up our life; but he invites us to a better one.